permaculture

[neshura <neshura@gmail.com>]

"In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of
South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly
efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all
their electricity from the sun."

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=116&art_id=vn20060211110132138C184427

At R400 for a 50 watt panel, assuming a minimum 10 year lifetime (i've
seen citations of 20 yrs) and a sunny 12 hour day of full production,
the best case scenario for putting up a 1kW array for your house is
almost to the point of not being believable. (around 2 cents a kWh
over the lifetime of the array)

A more reasonable scenario of 6-8 hours of sun for only part of the
year still looks really good financially.

Google on Vivian Alberts to find a whole host of hits on his CIGS
solar research.

I'm curious about the pollution aspect of the CIGS alloy, but as a
silicon, coal, or oil alternative that works as a more distributed
source of power and increases self sufficiency, this has piqued my
interest.